As a Google Partner, Informatics had the honor this week of hosting a Small Business Week event (April 30 – May 6). The presentation included highlights on how to utilize the platforms provided by Google to maximize your business efforts to be found anywhere, anytime, on any device.
Claim & Optimize Google My Business Listings
When your prospective customers are searching on Google, does your business show up in the listings on the right sidebar? Research shows that:
- 80% of consumers used a search engine when looking for information about businesses
- 76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within
- a day
- Searches including the phrase ‘near me’ grew 146% year-over-year from 2014 to 2015
Consumers are looking for answers in the ‘micro-moments’ that they need something (Google Video). If they can’t find it quickly they will likely purchase from a competitor even if they were looking for you! Take the first step and check your My Business listing to confirm that you are listed correctly at: gybo.com/business.
Optimize For Mobile
It is not surprising that about half of all Google searches happen on mobile phones. With all of those searches, Google has identified that people are 5 times more likely to leave a site if it isn’t mobile friendly. First, you can take a simple test at testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com to get scores measuring the quality of the experience site visitors have browsing on their phones. When looking for ways to improve their experience, consider:
- Responsive Design (Informatics Blog)
- Simple and Logical Navigation
- Make it easy to complete tasks and fill out forms
- Highlight Clear Calls to Action
- Optimized images
Create & Optimize Advertising
Using Google’s Adwords platform offers more than one kind of advertising and gives a variety of ways to hone your efforts to reach the right audience in those micro-moments. To get started ask questions to identify campaign goals and strategies such as:
- What services need to be advertised?
- Who is our primary audience?
- Which AdWords Platform will best reach my customers (Informatics Blog)?
- Do I want my ads to reach them on other websites after they have visited my site?
Google Partners are trained and certified to take the answers to questions like these and help you set up keywords, ads, and landing pages to optimize your advertising efforts.
Thank you to all the Small Business Owners that made the afternoon a success! If you are looking for more information on how to harness the power of Google, trust a Google Partner and Contact Informatics. Happy Small Business Week!
